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Wednesday, 27 May 2015

FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges

The
world governing body of football, Fifa, was plunged into an
unprecedented crisis on the eve of its congress in Zurich after Swiss
authorities arrested a string of officials in a dawn raid and opened
criminal proceedings over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

More
than a dozen plainclothed officers descended on the five-star Baur au
Lac hotel on Wednesday, where officials had gathered for Fifa’s annual
meeting.

The arrests were made on behalf of US
authorities, after an FBI investigation that has been ongoing for at
least three years. The US Department of Justice said authorities had
charged 14 officials, nine of whom are current or former Fifa
executives. Those arrested in Zurich face extradition to the US.

“They
were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest. Instead they
corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and
enrich themselves,” said the US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, at a
news conference in New York. “They did this over and over, year after
year, tournament after tournament.” Events tainted by corruption
included the award of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa and the 2011
Fifa presidential election, she said.

Separately,
Swiss federal prosecutors said they had opened criminal proceedings in
connection with the award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022
tournament to Qatar. These decisions have been shrouded in claims of
bribery and corruption ever since the vote in December 2010.

The
Swiss authorities seized “electronic data and documents” in a raid on
Fifa headquarters. Bank documents had earlier been collected from
various Swiss financial institutions. Police will question 10 members of
the Fifa executive committee who took part in the World Cup votes. The
10, all still current members of Fifa’s ExCo, include senior
vice-president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s
sports minister who is head of the country’s 2018 World Cup organising
committee. The others are Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain), Michel
D’Hooghe (Belgium), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Worawi Makudi (Thailand),
Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Rafael
Salguero (Guatemala) and Hany Abo Rida (Egypt).

In
a statement, the Swiss attorney general’s office said the executives
were being questioned on suspicion of “criminal mismanagement” and money
laundering. It said the timing of the operation was deliberately
co-ordinated with the arrests on behalf of the US authorities “to avoid
any possible collusion” between suspects and because a large number of
those involved in the voting for the two World Cups were present in
Zurich, where Fifa president Sepp Blatter was expected to be re-elected
for another four-year term on Friday.

At a later press
conference at Fifa headquarters, spokesman Walter de Gregorio denied
Blatter was in any way involved with either investigation and said that
the Swiss proceedings were as a result of information provided by Fifa
to the attorney general’s office in November 2014. He also confirmed
that there was no suggestion that Russia or Qatar would lose the World
Cup.

The arrests on behalf of the US authorities form part of an
international investigation into bribes worth $100m (£65m) spanning
three decades. The allegations date back to the 1990s and involve “the
acceptance of bribes and kickbacks”, Swiss officials said.

Fifa
vice-president Jeffrey Webb, of the Cayman Islands, was among those
arrested. He is the head of Fifa’s North American regional body, known
as Concacaf, which reported itself to US tax authorities in 2012.

The
organisation had not paid taxes for several years when its president
was Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer was secretary general.

As well
as Webb, the Department of Justice statement confirmed the Fifa
officials charged were Eugenio Figueredo, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Julio
Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Nicolás
Leoz. A further four defendants were the sports marketing executives
Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis. A
further marketing executive, José Marguiles, was charged as an
intermediary.

The DoJ statement confirmed the charges were for
racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, “among other
offences” and alleged a “24-year scheme to enrich themselves through
the corruption of international soccer”. The charges were announced by
the US attorney general Loretta Lynch.

The arrests came two days
before Fifa president Blatter had expected to be re-elected for a fifth
term. On Wednesday morning, Blatter – who was not among those arrested –
was said to be actively lobbying to have Friday’s election postponed.

Blatter
has been closely entwined with many of those charged in the US during
his 40 years at Fifa, including the Paraguayan Leoz and the Trinidadian
Warner. Webb and Figuero are current Fifa vice-presidents.

Last
year it emerged that Blazer, who was forced to resign after being
accused of financial irregularities, had been helping the FBI with its
long-running inquiry. The DoJ statement said Blazer had already pleaded
guilty to charges, as had José Hawilla, the owner and founder of the
Traffic Group, a multinational sports marketing agency with its
headquarters in Brazil.

Blazer wore a wiretap at the London 2012
Olympics and, although seriously ill, has been continuing to help the
FBI with its investigation.

“The
indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted
both abroad and here in the United States,” said Lynch. “It spans at
least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused
their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and
kickbacks.”

The
raids in Zurich are believed to have begun shortly before 6am, when six
Fifa officials were led from the Bauer au Lac hotel to unmarked cars
with sheets over their heads.

The Swiss Federal Office of
Justice (FOJ) said: “The US attorney’s office for the eastern district
of New York is investigating these individuals on suspicion of the
acceptance of bribes and kickbacks between the early 1990s and the
present day.

“The bribery suspects – representatives of sports
media and sports promotion firms – are alleged to have been involved in
schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries – delegates of Fifa
(Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and other
functionaries of Fifa sub-organisations – totalling more than $100m.

“In
return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and
sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin
America. According to the US request, these crimes were agreed and
prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks.”

Pressure
is now bound to build on Blatter to postpone Friday’s election, where
he is standing against Jordanian Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein.